House Republicans pushing universities to crack down on campus protests

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid ongoing protests on campuses across the country, Republicans on Capitol Hill said universities had let the expression of free speech slide into violence. Their calls for accountability add more pressure to university officials already struggling to manage pro-Palestinian protests and allegations of antisemitism, all while balancing free speech against personal safety.

Some Republicans called to investigate groups funding the protests, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and Within Our Lifetime.

“Especially when you have very obvious signs of lawless agitation and you know that there are some funding sources that are actually paying people to break the law, then you ought to prosecute the people who are breaking the law. You also have to look into the people who are paying for them to break the law,” said Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. “I think that’s an important and a good way to combat this stuff.”

“We just need to find out where the money is coming to support these hate groups. Hate is hate in whatever form it is and that’s who supporting these efforts on college campuses,” said Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio.

One bill introduced in the House, for example, would revoke nonprofit status and thus tax exemptions for “terrorist supporting organizations.”

Jewish Voice for Peace responded in a statement.

“Bills like S.4136/H.R. 6408 are efforts to strip charities of their tax-exempt status based entirely on political motives, and are incredibly dangerous attacks on our rights to free speech and public protest, two vital elements in any democracy… Inaccurately accusing these protests of antisemitism for holding the Israeli government accountable for its war crimes not only fails to make Jewish students safe, but actively distracts from real incidents of antisemitism and the dangers of white nationalism.”

Within Our Lifetime did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Carey sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has threatened to cut funding to and end the tax-exempt status of universities that do not adequately protect students from discrimination, as required under Title XI.

The committee also held a closed-door meeting Tuesday on additional strategies to address rising antisemitism in higher education.

At least four other House committee chairs have launched separate investigations into university protests, part of what Speaker Mike Johnson called a House-wide probe of antisemitism in America.

Free-speech watchdogs, however, warned Congress not to over-regulate universities even if they disapprove of how protests were handled.

“Because [lawmakers] have legitimate authority, they should be exercising that authority in a way that does not encourage institutions to censor constitutionally protected speech on campus,” said Tyler Coward, lead counsel for government affairs for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

Democrats have largely said universities and local law enforcement should decide how to deal with protests.

“Colleges and universities have their own rules that they can enforce,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.

The accountability efforts by Republicans come amid the presidential election, while President Joe Biden is struggling to unite Democrats behind his Israel policy.

At the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony on Tuesday, Biden said the U.S. “must give hate no safe harbor against anyone.”

Correction: This story has been corrected to clarify that the organization IfNotNow isn’t funding any protests. (May 8, 2024)